Degeneration
by Inu-ears
Summary: Inuyasha has never liked children. They have never liked him. Or so he thought. Everything changes when Kagome 'degenerates' to a younger state and attaches herself to a certain child disliking hanyou.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **No I don't own Inuyasha; Rumiko Takahashi does.

**Author's Note: **I've always wanted to write an Inuyasha fanfiction about the idea of…well…you'll find out! 3

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**DEGENERATION**

_Chapter 1_

Inuyasha had never liked children.

They had never liked him.

It was a silent, mutual understanding between the hanyou and human whelps. That was why he never gave any thought to perfecting his…paternal techniques. That was also why he never gave any thought to how he treated Shippo. There was also the matter of Shippo—the brat as Inuyasha had so formerly named him—being a youkai. Shippo wasn't human, and he definitely didn't act as though he were a small child—only around Kagome that is.

He, being a hanyou, had never, ever thought of siring his own pups. Never in the past had he allowed himself to do so. Who would want a hanyou as the father of their pup? Pup—understandably—would be the more correct term seeing as he was half-inu-youkai. But now…where he _was _accepted among the village, among his small group of friends, he _did_ have the chance and potential to dream for a future. But that certainly did not mean he had the _time_ for it. Although, several times he had caught himself staring at Kagome as she'd held a slumbering kitsune in her arms and imagining that the small kitsune she was holding had a mop of silvery, downy hair with tiny little pointed dog-ears…

He was abruptly and rudely startled out of his musings by a brown ball of fluff slamming into his side. He started, reaching for the attacker immediately, already having figured out who it was alone by scent.

"Shippo!" He growled deeply, highly agitated from the fact that he had briefly been caught off guard.

Shippo naturally tried to squirm out of his grasp—as he did every time—but gave up quickly and crossed his arms defiantly while glaring at him. "Let me go you jerk! Put me down!"

Inuyasha shook the kitsune-brat once, hopefully to rattle his brain and to quiet him, but not hard enough to hurt him. "Shut the hell up, brat! Who do ya think ya are, slamming into me like that! I outta--!"

"It's not my fault!! If your big ass hadn't been sitting on the branch I had been aiming for, I wouldn't have slammed into you, baka!! You're too wide to miss anyway!!" Shippo yelled, quickly detangling himself from the hanyou's momentarily slack grip. He quickly scrambled up another tree branch, far out of Inuyasha's reaching range. If the hanyou wanted to get to him, he'd have to make a leaping jump towards him.

Inuyasha snarled angrily, his mood rapidly darkening enough to dispel an adequate amount of negative energy to corrupt the whole Shikon no Tama. "Why you little piece of sh--!"

"Inuyasha! OSUWARI!"

WHAM!

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Inuyasha hated children. He despised them—especially Shippo; not because he basked in Kagome's attention all the time, of course or that he always got him sat one way or the other—and he wanted nothing to do with them. They were all just little pests, growing up to be either a lecherous priest or a bumbling mass of irritation.

Though…the dreams where he and Kagome had pups…now they were behaved, not irritations like Shippo…

BUT…that still didn't mean he liked 'em or wanted anything to do with 'em.

He dared, challenged and threatened the gods silently that if they ever brought upon him a child, a human one that adored him for reasons unknown—let's say because of his ears—he would wreak havoc among the realms of the kami and exact revenge.

Inuyasha didn't like children.

And children _certainly_ didn't like him.

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Somewhere, someone heard Inuyasha's challenge—his dislike for children and their obvious distaste for him—and decided to help him by showing him that children were not as judgmental as adults.

And that he was going to have to deal with something he'd never dealt with before.

A being that was going to be totally devoted, taken by and dependent on him.

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**Chapter notes: **

_Degeneration – to revert; to relapse _

_Next chapter you'll see just why I chose this specific title!_

_And, yes, for all you permanently scarred and devastated ppl out there…I WILL be updating my other fics! Yes, that means Methods of Seduction! _

_Oh yeah! Check out this cool INUxKAG webbie! _


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **No I don't own Inuyasha; Rumiko Takahashi does.

**Author's Note: **Gahh! Sorry I took so long in getting this chappie out! I've had so much to do lately! I barely had enough time to get this out!

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**DEGENERATION**

_Chapter 2_

"Inuyasha, it would be wise to stop some place safe and set up camp. There is no way in kami's name that we would reach Kaede's before nightfall. We are simply to far away and with Kagome-sama's state of illness…"

Inuyasha growled, annoyed, at the monk's words. He didn't want to stop, but his pack were just puny, pathetic humans. They didn't have his stamina and endurance…kami knew that Kagome certainly didn't. And that was probably why she was knocked-out cold on his back.

He knew that beyond whatever control he possessed, Kagome somehow always managed to rope him into doing the things that she wanted him to do, or she'd change his overall mindset of answering with a negative response…to a more pleasing response that she liked.

He remembered just exactly how she had became to be so ill-well.

_They had just finally retrieved another shard of the jewel, having killed the oni that had been using it. Something about the dead oni had struck him as odd, kind of off and unusual and he hadn't wanted Kagome to go near it despite it being dead. He had told her as much and had demanded that the priest go dig for the shard instead. Kagome had protested loudly and angrily, not understanding his intentions at all. _

_Of course, even if she had asked him his intentions, she would not have gotten much of a reply back._

_Now, Kagome was not the type of woman to just sit back and be told what to do without any explanation. Oh no, she got very angry and red in the face when told what to do as if she were some dog; and it annoyed her especially if he was the one ordering her around. Even though he provoked her anger indirectly, he did it most of the time just to watch her get angry on purpose. It was amusing and shockingly attractive. _

_Though he'd never tell her that._

_Or any one else for that matter either. _

_As Miroku had headed off towards the smoldering and bubbling masses of left-over youkai remains, Kagome had turned the tables on him purposefully, knowing what his reaction would already be. She had pleaded and made teary-eyes, telling him that he was always criticizing her abilities and that when she had a chance to show him, he wouldn't let her perform the tasks! He had never heard anything more absurd and messed up in his life. Kagome was telling him half-truths filled with twists that he couldn't seem to figure out. She had had him so confused and perplexed that all he had seen were her angry, about-to-cry blue orbs. He had immediately given her his famous line and turned his back—hoping that she would not sit him. She had made a barely inaudible sound of triumph and stomped over to the remains to get the shard, satisfied that she was doing something useful in the post-fight. As soon as she had walked away from him though, he had craned his neck to look back at her, to watch her carefully as she approached the dead oni._

_He had still had that feeling of uneasiness that played havoc on his instincts and senses._

_Nothing odd had occurred while she had retrieved the shard. The moment it had touched her hand, it had been cleansed of all impurity. He had by then, turned full frontal to watch her return to his side, when that uneasy feeling had suddenly spiked. His senses had spun out of control and before he knew what was happening, he had been barreling straight towards Kagome—his basic instincts acting before his brain could process the will to move._

_He had reached her in record time—no doubt he had been moving so fast that even Sango's clothes had billowed from the gust of air as he shot by—and snatched her up into his arms and leapt away from the youkai remains. As he had touched the ground, a few feet away from the group, he had seen a black, thick sheen of…something spiral outwards from the remains. Everyone had backed away quickly—Sango and the Monk had jumped onto Kirara and Shippo had, somehow, latched onto him as he jumped into a tree with Kagome in his arms for safety. _

_Everything the black sheen had touched had withered and shriveled up quickly and died. Immediately afterwards, Miroku had gone in and purified the area with a binding ritual or something. Not that he had been paying much attention at that point anyways. All he had been thinking about was that Kagome, had she been standing there a few seconds earlier, would have possibly died from whatever that stuff was. He had graciously thanked his father for his youkai strength and speed, for without it, he would not have reached her in time, let alone scent the rising uneasiness around the area the remains emitted._

_The panic and tension had slowly eased throughout the group once the monk had finished and Inuyasha had felt that it was safe to let Kagome down. He had jumped out of the tree and the minute he had put her on her own two feet, she had collapsed. Startled and definitely panicked, he had caught her before she hit the ground and cradled her against him. He had asked her what was wrong and she had said that is was 'nothing.' That remark hadn't sat well him, and so, he had refused to put her down until she told him what was really wrong. But, even when she had told him, he still had not let her walk on her own two feet. _

_And it was good that he hadn't let her either. She had just gotten worse, becoming feverish and dizzy. She had complained that she felt cold, but her body had insisted otherwise, protesting that she was too hot. She had also told him that she was tired and wanted to go to sleep for awhile. He had not cared if she went to sleep or not—because when it came down to it, she would still be in his arms._

_Nobody could come up with a plausible explanation for Kagome's sudden sickness and ill-health. Sango had had no idea what could have affected the miko so drastically, but she had said that it had most likely been from the youkai. Miroku had agreed with her, also saying that no matter if they knew not the direct cause at the moment, Kagome-sama's health and well-being was more important. Inuyasha had grunted his agreement—already deigning himself as her personal and only care-taker in this dire situation. Nobody would touch her—only him—while she was ill. Of course, he assumed these roles naturally, needing and taking no time to think them over and certainly paying no attention to a certain grinning monk, tajiya and kitsune... _

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha blinked suddenly at the voice that penetrated his thoughts. He scowled and jerked around to come face-to-face with Sango. He expressed his irritation by scowling quite darkly at her but all she did was roll her eyes at his expression.

"Inuyasha, we said, don't you think you should put Kagome-chan down? Like, lay her in her sleeping bag? Or were you not listening to us at all?" She growled, advancing towards him steadily. She looked as if she would rip Kagome straight off his back herself…

He was not going to have that.

He growled and stalked away from her, shifting Kagome into his arms to lay her down. Sango blinked then sighed in exasperation and went to start the fire, muttering to herself about stupid men. Miroku smirked and shook his head knowingly but wisely kept silent, lest he incur the hanyou's wrath.

Shippou stared as Kagome was placed into her sleeping bag and as dog-boy sat down right next to her bedding, his arms crossed with his sword against his chest. He saw Inuyasha's glare travel over to him and clearly understood the silent warning sent his way. Don't come near her or I'll shred you. He scampered into Miroku's lap, interrupting his meditation, but not caring in the least. There were only a few times when Inuyasha was actually intending to follow up on his threats—when he was acting territorial or when Kagome was involved. But the main factor that dictated his emotions and instincts—whether he was aware of it or not—was Kagome. It was simple really; if you messed with Kagome, Inuyasha would kill you.

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The whole camp had fallen silent under the lull of the darkness and had soon found themselves drifting off into a pleasant sleep. The fire had dwindled to a little spark, every now and then bursting to life as it found an untouched piece of wood to devour. The shadows of companions loomed near, peacefully resting and dreaming, waiting for dawn's day to break. A figure clad in red with slightly, twitching dog ears silently slumbered as his senses were acutely focused on the weary-worn girl under his protection. She slept on, welcoming his protection and sighed in her sleep, shifting around to roll on her side to face the silhouette of her protector—of her friend, her secret love, feeling his youki wrap around her tenderly and warmly.

Unaware to the small, misfit group of young adults, a silent change occurred within the folds of a certain girl's sleeping bag. The girl shifted slightly, unconsciously aware of an unearthly mist surrounding her, but paid no heed to it as she felt her protector's presence near.

The dog-eared boy's nose twitched at the change occurring, smelling something unfamiliar yet welcoming. He sighed, being pulled deeper into the abyss of sleep, feeling the modern miko's aura soothe him into relaxation.

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**Author's Note: **

_Sorry it took so long to get this chappie out! I've had so much work to do lately and have been running all over the place! Phew! Please review and enjoy! Next chapter will come soon!_


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